■mitl.r$[:Y    OF 

CMJFORNIA 

SAN  DicGO 


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Central  University  Library 

University  of  California,  San  Diego 
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N'.rtY  1  3  RtC'U 


0139(1/91) 


UCSDLib. 


T^ERSON^AL 


EEMINISCENCES, 


WHAT  FIFTY  YEARS  HAVE  DONE ! 


BY 


JAMES    W.   AUTEN 


NEW  YORK: 

.\N(; F.I.I,,  Printer.  354 Fourth  Avenue. 


1882. 


Typographic  Library  and  \ 
Museum  of  the  American  \ 
Type  Founders  Company  o 

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No.         .^A  Cabinet  NN       \ 

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^lielf    _4^-  Exfiihit  Case  \ 

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PERSONAL    REMINISCENCES. 


WHAT  FIFTY  YEARS   HAVE   DONE! 


Ix  the  Autumn  of  1831,  while  attending  the  little 
District  School  in  my  native  village  of  Richmond,  Staten 
Island,  1  made  an  arraugenient  with  the  proprietors  of 
The  Shipfixg  and  Commercial  List,  of  New  Vork,  to 
enter  their  service. 

So  leaving  the  o\{\  Homestead  on  the  Island,  I  landed 
on  Whitehall  Dock,  October  31,  1831,  a  poor,  friendless 
boy  of  seventeen  summers,  a  jierfect  stranger  in  this 
great,  and  to  me,  W(jnderful  city. 

It  seemed  a  remarkable  providence  that  l)rought  me 
here  ;  a  single  casual  thought  being  the  apparent 
turning  point  of  all  niy  future  historv. 

One  day  after  transacting  some  business  at  the  store 
of  the  late  Edwin  B.  Clay  ion,  I  vftiirned  to  it  to  in- 
quire if  he  was  in  need  of  a  clerk.  Having  received  a 
favorable  answer,  I  entered  the  employ  of  BiRkirr  i\: 
Ci.AVTON,  publishers  of  the  commercial  publication  re- 
ferred  to  above,  and   took    my  place   in  their  office   as 


youngest  clerk,  Monday  morning,  October  31,  1831 — 
just  fifty  years  ago — and  remained  in  active  service  in 
the  same  line  of  business  for  the  full  term  of  forty-five 
years  and  five  months  I 

With  uniform  good  health,  I  had  in  all  this  time 
scarcely  an  interruption,  even  for  a  single  day,  to  the 
ordinary  routine  of  business  life. 

Here  I  devoted  myself  with  industry  and  fidelity  to 
my  humble  employment,  keeping  good  company  and 
reading  only  good  books,  thus  avoiding  the  snares  and 
pitfalls  always  numerous  in  a  large  city,  giving  satisfac- 
tion to  my  employers  and  gathering  around  me  a  choice 
circle  of  religious  and  other  friends,  to  whom,  to-day,  I 
am  indebted  for  a  large  share  of  my  success  in  life. 

About  1848,  both  Mr.  Burritt  and  Mr.  Clayton  having 
deceased,  my  brother,  John  G.,  and  Wni.  O.  E.  Bourne, 
then  fellow  clerks;  the  management  of  the  business  passed 
into  our  hands,  under  the  firm  name  of  Autens  &: 
Bourne,  and  so  remained  until  April  i,  1877,  a  period 
of  nearly  thirty  years,  when  the  firm  was  dissolved  by 
the  death  of  John  G.  Auten,  and  for  other  causes. 

The  history  of  these  thirty  years  is  replete  with  most 
interesting  experiences,  but  they  can  scarcely  be  re- 
hearsed in  detail  here. 

Suffice  it  to  .say,  the  paper,  ur.dcr  oui'  nianagenient 
rose  ra])idly  in  influence  and  character,  to  a  height 
never  before  attained,  and  was  universally  recognized 
as  a  power  in  the  commercial  community. 


They  were  years  of  hard  labor,  and  consequent  suc- 
cess, each  of  the  managers  bringing  to  his  work  great 
industry,  due  diligence,  an  intelligent  appreciation  of 
the  wants  of  the  niercantilt-  public,  and  a  resolute  de- 
termination to  supply  them. 

The  size  of  the  sheet  grew  rapidly  from  a  mere  "  sev. 
en  by  nine  "  until  it  was  as  large  as  most  of  the  modern 
daily  newspapers. 

This,  of  itself,  is  a  sufficient  indication  of  the  intelli- 
gence and  fidelity  with  which  it  was  conducted.  Hav- 
ing the  confidence  of  the  commercial  public,  it  was  our 
pleasure,  as  well  as  our  duty,  to  cater  to  all  their  reason- 
able desires  and  make  the  Shipping  List  a  standard  for 
correctness  and  the  organ  of  the  commercial  classes. 

The  Annual  Statements  and  Reviews  of  the  leading 
articles  of  commerce,  by  their  novelty  and  value,  at- 
tracted much  attention,  and  soon  became  well  known 
in  every  quarter  of  the  globe  where  commerce  has  a 
foothold.  These  articles,  first  introduced  by  Mr. 
Bourne  were  those  of  Cotton,  Sr(;.\R,  Coffek,  Tea. 
Molasses,  Petroleum  and  Na\ai.  SroREs. 

Prepared  by  one  or  other  of  our  firm,  these  statements 
attained  great  celebrity,  and  became  standard  authority 
everywhere.  The  ordinary  Market  Reports  were  also 
very  valuable,  because  impartial  and  reliable. 

Wednesday  and  Saturday  were  the  days  of  publica- 
tion, and  the  days  preceding,  were  indeed  "busy  days." 
being  closely  filled  up  from  noon  till  dark  ;    for  the  in- 


formation  furnished  was  brought  down  to  the  latest  pos- 
sible moment,  and  not  prepared  a  day  or  two  previous, 
when  conductors  and  their  clerks  had  plenty  of  leisure. 

Never  did  three  men  work  more  faithfully  (conscien- 
tiously faithful)  than  the  members  of  the  well  known 
and  popular  firm  of  Autens  &  Bourne. 

Early  and  late,  rain  or  shine,  hot  or  cold,  sick  or 
well,  they  were,  as  a  rule,  always  and  ever,  at  their  post. 
Clerks  might  be  sick  or  take  recreation,  but  the  mana- 
gers were  almost  always  on  hand,  each  not  only  caring 
for  his  own  department,  but  often  supplying  the  lack  of 
service  of  their  subordinates. 

As  an  evidence  of  the  punctuality  and  diligence  of  the 
members  of  the  firm,  one  of  them  stated  in  Court, 
where  he  was  called  as  a  witness,  that  there  was  never 
a  Tuesday  or  a  Friday  (our  busy  days)  in  which  hvo 
of  the  three  were  not  present,  during  a  period  of  forty 
consecutive  years  !  His  Honor.  Judge  Mitchell,  com- 
plimented the  members  of  the  firm  on  their  faithfulness, 
and  told  the  witness   he  "liked  to  hear  him  talk." 

My  brother  died  in  1876,  and  Mr.  Bourne  and  my.self. 
the  surviving  members  of  Autens  &  Bourne,  left  the 
old  ship  April  i,  1877,  he,  after  a  term  of  thirty-eight 
years  ;  my  brother  at  the  end  of  forty  years,  and  I,  after 
nearly  forty-six  years. 

Its  Later  H'       rv. 

The  subsequent  history  of  th  ■  ■  """  must  be  written, 
if  written  at  all,  by  another  hand  than  m.ie. 


o 

'riic  beauties  of  "the  shades  of  private  life,"  to  those 
who  have  always  had  an  active,  pubUc  one,  are  not  so  ap- 
parent or  enchanting  as  one  might  suppose,  and  the 
phrase,  "  a  green  old  age,"  has  oftentimes  more  poetry 
than  reality  in  it. 

Impaired  health  and  broken  fortunes  are  poor  re- 
wards for  a  life  of  arduous  labor,  but  ''  a  good  name  is 
better  than  great  riches,"  and  this  is  a  good  part  which 
cannot  be  taken  away  from  its  possessor. 

A  Visit  to  thk  Old  Homestead. 

After  a  lapse  of  fifty  years,  I  again  stood  on  ^Vhite- 
hall  Dock,  having  paid  a  flying  visit  to  the  home  of  my 
childhood. 

I  took  a  melancholy  pleasure  in  viewing  the  old, 
familiar  scenes  of  my  youthful  days.  Thfe  house  in 
which  I  was  born,  that  in  which  I  was  brought  up,  the 
old  playgrounds,  the  trees  and  running  streams,  the  vil- 
lage churches  and  the  old  church-yard  where, 

"  Each  in  his  narrow  cell  forever  laid. 
The  rude  forefathers  of  the  hamlet  sleep." 

There  lie  -my  father  and  my  mother,  three  of  my 
children,  and  very  many  others,  for  King  Death,  like 
young  David,  "has  slain  his  tens  of  thousands." 

The  oldest  church  edifice,  (St.  Andrew's  Protestant 
Episcopal — built  in  the  reign  of  Queen  Anne,)  after 
having   been   fr-en--  tc^rn  to  pieces  by  strokes    of 

lightning,  the  '  '  .veral  times  blown  down,  and  the 
roof  blown  off,  was  finallv  totallv  destroved  bv  fire,  a 


6 

few  years  ago,  and  is  now  replaced  by  a  neat  wooden 
structure. 

I  used  to  worship  in  old  St.  Andrew's,  Rev.  David 
Moore,  Rector,  when  I  was  a  boy,  and  it  has  left  with 
me  many  pleasant  memories. 

But  the  point  of  greatest  interest  was  the  dear  old 
District  School  House  I  There  it  stands  now,  just  as  it 
stood  fifty  years  ago,  when  I  first  learned  to  spell  and 
read  ;  grappled  with  old  "  Daboll  ;"  attacked  "  Murray's 
Abridged  ;  "  giving  Algebra  and  Astronomy  a  wide 
berth  ;  but  to  spell  down  my  classmates,  and  read  the 
grand  old  "  English  Reader"  and  the  "  Sequel  "  to  it, 
was  the  delight  of  my  young  heart. 

I  took  my  stand  where  I  had  stood  half  a  cen- 
tury previous,  and  tried  to  talk  to  the  children  there  as- 
sembled. But  it  was  a  difficult  task.  The  old  scenes 
and  associations  rushed  before  my  vision  and  choked 
ni}'  utterance.  The  whole  scene  seemed  like  reading 
a  book  of  history,  and  as  though  the  world  was  slipping 
from  beneath  my  feet  ! 

The  school  is  in  charge  of  a  competent  young  lady, 
who  received  me  very  kindly,  as  did  indeed  all  with 
whom  I  came  in  contact. 

Hut  oh  !  how  changed  !  The  village  itself  has  grown 
old  ;  and  like  the  sluggard's  garden,  is  ''all  grown  over 
with  weeds." 

The  friends  of  my  early  days  are  nearly  ail  gone  ; 
parents  and  children,  old  and  young,  having  been  alike 


swept  awav  l)y  the  hand  of  death,  and  of  the  whole 
population  living  there  titty  years  ayo,  1  found  less 
than  half  a  dozen  surviving  ;  young  and  old  having  gone 
to  their  long  home,  and  the  same  proportion  holds  good 
as  to  other  connminities. 

1  bade  a  final  farewell  to  the  few  surviving  friends  of 
my  childhood,  turned  by  back  on  the  old  church-yard 
and  said  good-by  to  the  boys  and  girls  who  are  last 
growing  up  to  take  their  [places  on  the  stage  ot  this 
world's  activities.  1  turned  away  sadly,  knowing  that  1 
should  see  their  faces  no  more  ! 

But  their  faithful  teachers  will  meet  them  all  in  "that 
dav."  Their  scholars  will  have  passed  from  under 
their  care  ;  from  the  vestibule  into  the  arena,  and  b\- 
and-by  they  will  receive  the  reward  of  their  labor.  May 
it  be — "Well  done,  good  and  faithful  servants." 
Xfav  York  as  it  W.jis,  i\  1830. 

During  the  period  under  review  I  have  seen  man\- 
and  wonderful  changes  in  this  beautiful  city.  Its 
growth  within  that  time  has  been  marvelous.  From  a 
goodlv  sized  town  of  two  hundred  thousand  inhabitants, 
it  now  numbers  more  than  a  million  and  a  (.juarter  of 
souls.  It  has  become  the  metropolis  of  the  New  World, 
and  is  now  only  second  to  London  in  the  extent  of  its 
commerce  and  the  magnitude  of  its  financial  and  com- 
mercial oi)erations. 

I  have  seen  it  rebuilt  in  most  parts  twice,  and  in 
manv  the   third   time,   and    extend    its    northern  border 


8 

from  Canal  Street  (Stone  Bridge)  to  far  beyond  the 
Harlem  River. 

In  1830  we  had  no  Croton  Water,  little  Anthracite- 
Coal,  except  Rhode  Island  Coal,  which  successfully  re- 
sisted every  effort  to  burn  it  :  little  or  no  Illuminating 
Gas,  the  city  being  mostly  lighted,  publicly  and  privately, 
by  oil,  etc.  ;  no  Rail  Roads,  no  Express  Companies,  no 
Sunlit  Pictures,  no  Friction  Matches,  no  Land  Tele- 
graphs, no  Ocean  Cables,  no  Petroleum,  and  not  a 
Steamship  to  cross  the  ocean  ;  nearly  all  our  Foreign 
-Mails  coming  monthly  or  fortnightly,  by  the  famous  old 
"  Black  Ball,"  "  Black  Star  "  and  other  lines  of  ''  Liver- 
pool Packets." 

The  arrival  oi  a  European  mail  in  that  day  was  a 
great  event  in  shipping  and  mercantile  circles.  The 
packets  were  sometimes  out  thirty  to  sixty  days,  or 
more;  and  to  share  in  "the  first  delivery"  of  letters 
was  the  object  of  every  merchant,  as  none  could  afford 
to  be  much  behind  his  neighbor  in  the  reception  of  com- 
mercial news.  "  Extras  "  were  usually  issued,  often 
causing  great  excitement. 

Only  a  few  of  the  present  generation  remember  the 
grand  old  merchants  of  that  day,  whose  boast  was  that 
"their  word  was  as  good  as  their  bond,"  that  they 
"  never  did  a  dishonorable  act,  and  always  paid  one 
hundred  cents  on  the  dollar." 

1  call  to  mind, —  nearly  all  personal  friends  :  John 
Jacob    Astor,    Peter    (Jooper,   James   Bcjorman.    A.    \'. 


Stout,  Jonathan  (".ooilhue,  A.  A.  Low,  Aymar  &  Co., 
H.  I).  Morj^un,  Phelps,  Dodjj^e  cV  Co.,  Wm.  E.  Dodge, 
Alex.  v.  Stewart,  Moses  Taylor,  Foster  <!v:  Giraud, 
George  T.  Trimble,  Gary  iv  Co.,  Fish,  (irinnell  &  Co., 
Samuel  Thompson,  Griilnt-'ll.  Minturn  iS:  Co.,  Robert 
Kermit.  Brown  Bros.  iV  Co.,  Wheeler  W.  DeForest,  G. 
G.  &  S.  Howland,  N.  I-.  .S;  (i.  Griswold,  Spofford  & 
Tileston,  Talbot,  Olyphant  t^  Co.,  Gideon  Lee,  R.  L. 
iV-  A.  Stuart.  Silas  Wood,  Maitland,  Kennedy  &  Co., 
Royal  Phelps,  Wm.  W.  Todd,  McCoon  «!v:  Sherman, 
Henj.  B.  Sherman,  Ezra  Wheeler,  Peter  Balen,  Hick- 
son  W.  Field,  Henj.  H.  Field,  Wm.  Kemble,  Wm. 
Whitlo(~k,  Jr.,  John  J.  Hoyd,  Joseph  Foulke,  N.  T. 
Hubbard,  Edwin  .Mead,  Ralph  Mead,  Samuel  Judd, 
Wm.  U'all,  Creorge  Douglass,  Cyrus  W.  Field,  Jno. 
Caswell,  the  Wetmores,  the  Delafields,  the  Schieffelins, 
the  Delaplaines,  C.  &:  j.  Barstow.  Reed  &  Sturges, 
Laing  i\:  Randolph,  Schermerhorn.  Banker  <lt  Co.,  H. 
\:  G.  Barclay,  Wm.  A.  Booth,  Sam'l  Hicks  c\:  Sons,  Geo. 
Miln,  Oliver  Cobb,  E.  1).  Hurlbut,  James  Lee,  Boonen 
(iraves  ^:  Co.,  and  many  others  equally  deserving  of 
"honorable  mention." 

California,  Alaska  and  other  remote  parts  of  our 
country  were  then  unknown,  except  by  name,  and  tii. 
whole  vast  territory  west  of  the  Mississippi  River  was 
laid  down  on  the  maps  as  "  unexplored  regions." 

In  that  day  we  had  little  or  no  small  coin  except  the 
Spanish  and  Mexican  Shilling,  and  Sixpence,  and  "  Pis- 


10 

tareen  ;  "  and  our  rates  of  postage  were  6},  J2^,    i8f 
and  25  cents,  according  to  distance. 

If  it  be  asked  what  did  the  citizens  do  for  water  for 
the  extinguishment  of  fires,  and  for  domestic  use,  the 
answer  is,  they  had  the  North  and  East  Rivers,  the  old 
pumps  and  cisterns,  and  Knapp's  Spring  Water  dehvered 
at  their  doors  at  so  much  per  gallon,  and  that  furnished 
by  the  Manhattan  Company.  The  old  flint  and  steel 
and  tinder  box,  supplied  the  place  of  matches  ;  pure 
whale  and  sperm  oil  and  candles,  the  place  of  gas  ; 
hard  woods  and  Virginia  and  Jersey  pine,  and  bitumi- 
nous coal,  the  place  of  anthracite  ;  the  lumbering  omni- 
bus served  for  "  rapid  transit,"  and  Kipp  iS:  Brown's 
stages  running  from  the  corner  of  Pine  and  Nassau 
Streets,  to  "  Greenwich  ^'illage" — fare  one  shilling — 
were  well  patronized.  iUit  the  rush  up-town  at  the 
close  of  business  was  not  so  fierce  as  in  our  day,  for 
verv  many  of  our  merchants  lived  near  the  Battery, 
around  the  Howling  Green,  in  Broadway,  in  State  and 
Greenwich  Streets,  and  nearly  all  below  Chambers 
Street,  many  of  them  over  their  own  places  of  business 

For  the  transportation  of  merchandise  we  had  the 
useful  horse  and  cart,  and  a  fine  body  of  cartmen,  nearly 
all  native  born,  and  each  attired  with  a  "frock,"  neat 
and  clean  e\ery  day. 

The  "  \()lunteer  l-'ire  L)ej)artment"  of  that  day,  though 
in  some  respects  a  nuisance  and  a  disgrace  to  the  city, 
used  to  boast   that   a   fire   rarely  extended   beyond   the 


11 

building  in  which  it  originated.  The  history  of  the 
past  vear  or  two  dots  not  now  warrant  such  a  boast 
from  our  well  equipped  and  well  paid  firemen. 

I  ])assed  through  the  Cholera  season  of  1832,  saw 
the  "Great  Fire"  of  1835,  and  witnessed  the  Financial 
Revulsion  of  1837,  when  the  military  were  stationed  in 
Wall  Street  to  protect  the  banks  ;  but  I  cannot  speak  of 
them  here. 

I  love  to  think  of  the  merchants  of  fifty  years  ago. 
They  were  i)erhaps  a  little  inclined  to  preserve  a  digni- 
fied reserve  and  a  show  of  stateliness,  but  they  were,  with 
rare  e.\ce])lions,  the  upright  and  honorable  of  the  earth, 
whose  shi])s  entereil  every  port,  and  whose  commerce 
enriched  every  clime,  and  whitened  every  sea.  It  was 
indeed  a  great  pleasure  and  privilege  to  associate  with 
those  noble  men  of  other  tlays  who  laid  the  foundation 
of  our  present  commercial  greatness  and  materially  as- 
sisted to  make  New  York  what  it  is  to-dav. 


In  CoNCi.usiON. 

Here  I  must  stop,  only  adding,  for  the  encourage- 
ment of  our  yf)ung  men,  that  /  //e7rr  smoked  a  segni\ 
nor  used  tobacco  in  anv  form  ;  never  drank  a  glass  of 
strong  drink,  avoided  the  theatre  and  other  places  of 
amusement  of  dou]")tful  character,  all  profanity  and 
Sabbath    breaking,    and,   though   handling  millions   of 


12 

money,  never  misappropriated  a  penny  ;  and  have  now 
come  to  the  closing  years  of  a  long  and  busy  life,  with 
a   "conscience  void  of  offence  towards  (iod  and  man." 
JAMES  \V.  AinEN, 

70  Irving  Place. 
New  York,  October  31,  1881. 


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